There's an idea I've had for a new SCP. It would consist of two objects, a male human and an ancient golden goblet. The two appear to be normal by themselves, but when the human comes into contact with the goblet, they transform into a ferocious creature closely resembling a European dragon. However, the man only stays a dragon for around 30 minutes to 4 hours before transforming back into a human.

I would like some help further developing these ideas so I can make this into a decent SCP page.

The basic concept is a little… bland for the lack of a better word. And this leaves a lo of holes that need to be filled. Who is this person? Why does he transform into a dragon, and not say… a can of soda? How did he find the goblet? Where was the goblet found? Can other people transform from the goblet?

All in all, this has some potential, but the standard 'Two things that do a thing together in a room' is a bit overdone. It can be beautifully crafted into a story, but it'll need a lot of work.

I haven't decided yet if others can be transformed by the goblet of not.

Another idea I had for this is rather than the goblet itself, the man transforms when he comes into contact with certain types of valuable metals and minerals, such as gold, rubies, emeralds, and diamonds. In this case, the goblet would be the object that gives this anomalous effect whenever a human being touches it, while coming into contact with valuable metals/minerals would only trigger the effect.

I understand that the basic concept sounds bland, which is why I would appreciate help further developing ideas for it.

rather than the goblet itself, the man transforms when he comes into contact with certain types of valuable metals and minerals, such as gold, rubies, emeralds, and diamonds. In this case, the goblet would be the object that gives this anomalous effect whenever a human being touches it, while coming into contact with valuable metals/minerals would only trigger the effect.

But why? Why this dude? Why not a lady? Why a goblet? What does a goblet have to do with dragons? What's the story behind this guy's unfortunate state? Does being a dragon mean he has to eat more to stay alive? Does he suffer any side effects from the transformations? Has he developed a fear of valuables?

Also, as an aside, there are a fair number of things out there that are more expensive and harder to (legally, for one thing) obtain than gold. Most of them are drugs. A subversion of the standard "hoarding dragon" trope might be interesting if the dragon went after human-produced drugs. But we've seen plenty of transforming dragons in existing works, plenty of them kid-oriented like American Dragon: Jake Long.

Alright, I've brainstormed some possible ideas to answer some of these questions. I might not use all of these ideas though.

The goblet is adorned with gems and carvings of dragons. It is filled with wine that, once drank, gives the human who drank it the anomalous effect. The goblet itself has an anomalous effect that causes those closest to it feel an urge to drink from it. The goblet automatically refills with wine once its empty.

The man is a rookie archaeologist who lived in eastern Canada but moved to England in pursuit of his career. There he came across the goblet in the ruins of a castle in Wales. He was going to dump out its contents before taking it with him, but as he grasped it, the urge to drink the wine was extremely overpowering, thus, he drank it.

As a dragon, something that may be interesting is he could actively seek out liquor, and the more he drinks, the longer he stays a dragon. He would also need more sustenance as a dragon, and will prey on sheep, cows, and horses.

The goblet itself has an anomalous effect that causes those closest to it feel an urge to drink from it.

Ehhh. This is kind of boring. Compulsions are kind of a lame narrative device to use when you can't rely on someone to act the way that's necessary to tell the story: if the only reason people drink the wine is BECAUSE IT FORCES THEM TO DO SO THEY HAVE NO CHOICE, it feels like a cheap story. Take a look at the articles we've already got with this sort of approach, tagged with "compulsion".

He was going to dump out its contents before taking it with him, but as he grasped it, the urge to drink the wine was extremely overpowering, thus, he drank it.

How in the world did a rookie archaeologist who seems to demonstrate no knowledge of preservation techniques manage to get enough funding to be allowed in an excavation of a castle in Wales? Heck, that stuff in the goblet could have been an incredibly important historical find (alcohol tends to evaporate with time, and aged spirits can be impressive by the sheer fact that they're still there), and he was thinking to just pour it out?!

As a dragon, something that may be interesting is he could actively seek out liquor,

But why? You seem to still be focusing too much on the "what" and not the "why".

and the more he drinks, the longer he stays a dragon.

Again, but why? There's so much more you could be doing with this. I'm still not sure how dragons and wine are related. The goblet and wine are better-established, but there's not much done with that relationship.

I feel as if you're putting far too much focus on the object itself, and not the story you want to tell. Let's strip this right down to the basics. What kind of emotion are you hoping to envoke from your reader? Fear? Disgust? Sadness? What literary goal do you have besides 'goblet turns you into dragon'? Articles nowadays aren't just 'objects that do spooky/interesting things', but rather a narrative told through scientific documents.

Also, just as an aside, it comes across as quite rude to say 'help would be appreciated' when Zyn has already given some very good advice: Why are the dragons and wine related? Why is it even a goblet and not something else? What about these scattered pieces links together in order to create a functional story? We want to help you as much as we can, but don't expect us to write the article for you.

Find something that ties it all together. What can help out a lot with this stage of the brainstorming process is having read a lot of background stuff before you approached the concept.

For example:

The Holy Grail is, in some portrayals (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Grail#Robert_de_Boron), a cup said to contain the blood of Christ. It is said to be guarded by Grail keepers established by Joseph, Jesus's father on Earth. Perhaps the dragon is one of these keepers, and the cup chooses a new keeper whenever the current one is nearing the end of their sanity, or there's a tenure period heaven has decreed. The basic exchange is everlasting life as a dragon, in exchange for guarding the grail. The Foundation deals with this by bargaining with the current keeper to allow a Foundation-loyal individual to become the current keeper, and they set up location-based containment around the ruined castle.

There's a children's book called Dove Isabeau (https://www.amazon.com/Dove-Isabeau-Jane-Yolen/dp/0152015051), involving a young maiden who is turned into a dragon by a curse from her stepmother. To survive, Dragon!Isabeau is forced to eat the princes that come to fight her. One of the princes manages to break the transformation spell on her (kissing the dragon three times) but is turned to stone. Isabeau's mother's cat, who licked up three drops of blood from Isabeau pricking her finger before she was cursed, is able to break the stone spell using the price of "innocent blood shed". You can adapt this sort of story into the SCP using wine in place of blood.